Learn More About Our State this Maryland Day

Celebrate Maryland Day by learning more about our great state with resources from the Enoch Pratt Free Library. 

Digital Maryland Collections

Digital Maryland provides online access to digital versions of rare and unique materials, including historical maps, photographs, reports, books, manuscripts, artwork, and other media. Visit here to access.

Check out these collections:

Maryland Newspapers

Search current and historical Maryland newspapers, including over 100 years of the Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Afro-American. To access, please visit here. 

Download some Romance in Your Life

Fall head over heels this March for a new book! Romance lovers check out Hoopla’s collection of Diverse Romance featuring some of the latest from bestselling authors including Alyssa Cole and Alexis Daria. 

Recipe for Persuasion
by Sonali Dev
eBook
The Worst Best Man
by Mia Sosa
eBook
Like Lovers Do
by Tracey Livesay
eBook
Take a Hint, Dani Brown
by Talia Hibbert
eBook
You Had Me at Hola
by Alexis Daria
eBook
Loathe at First Sight
by Suzanne Park
eBook
First Comes Like
by Alisha Rai
eBook
Happy Endings
by Then-Kim Lam
eBook
How to Find a Princess
by Alyssa Cole
eBook
Out of Character
by Annabeth Albert
eBook
The Seaside Café
by Rochelle Alers
eBook
Love Hard
by Nalini Singh
eBook

Learn More about Maryland Women in History with These Resources

Guest post by Kathy Shelley, Librarian, Information Services Department at the Central Library

Did you know that some women of historic renown have lived in Maryland?

The Duchess of Windsor lived in Baltimore with her mother, as a young girl. You can read about her life in The Duchess of Windsor, by Michael Block, 1997, or The Woman Who Would be Queen, by Geoffrey Bocca, 1954.

The poet, Lizette Woodworth Reese, was widely known during her lifetime. She was “Poet Laureate of Maryland” in 1931. Take a look at the plaque outside the entrance to the Edgar Allan Poe Room, on the 2nd floor of the Central Library. This memorial tablet was commissioned by the Lizette Woodworth Reese Memorial Association. In addition, the library’s Digital Collection, has related photos of sculptures dedicated to her. Her correspondence can be found in the Special Collections Department.

Billie Holiday, the famous jazz and swing singer, grew up in Baltimore. The Fine Arts Department holds a large number of biographies about her including Billie’s Blues: Billie Holiday’s Story, by John Chilton, 1933-1959, 1975. Also, Billie Holiday at Sugar Hill by Jerry Dantzic, 2017, has a number of previously unpublished photographs.There’s a bronze statue of Billie Holiday on the 2nd floor of the Central Library, also.

Mary Young Pickersgill became well-known for having sewn the flag that flew over Ft. McHenry, during the War of 1812. What’s also interesting to note about her is that she helped start a charitable non-profit, the Female Humane Society, which assisted poor women. The Pickersgill Retirement community which began in 1802, is named for her. The Enoch Pratt Free Library has a variety of books about her and her daughter, Caroline, for both adults and children. You can find articles about her in the library’s databases including: Gale in Context: High School, Gale General OneFile, and Proquest Historical Newspapers.

Dominique Dawes was a medal winner at the Olympics, both in 1996 and 2000. She is a life-long resident of Maryland. The library has a variety of books about the Olympics in which she is included. The biography about her is Heart of a Champion: The Dominque Dawes Story by Kim Washburn, 2012, ebook.

Senator Barbara A. Mikulski is the distinguished senator from Maryland who grew up in Baltimore.  The Senator has high praise for the Pratt Library and visited the Canton branch regularly, in her youth. The Barbara A. Mikulski Room is located on the 3rd floor of the Central Library. This is where her mementos and documents from her time as Senator are on display. The room is also used for women’s leadership programming, as well as adult literacy. The library’s Digital Collection has various photos of her during her years of government service. The library has a wide selection of books and biographies about her. The Book of Gutsy Women by Hilary R. Clinton, 2019, 

The heroic Harriet Tubman who grew up in Dorchester County, Md. was a leader of the Underground Railroad. Later in her life she opened a home for the elderly in Auburn, New York. The library has a wide selection of titles about her for both adults and children. The library has the documentary, Harriet Tubman: They Called Her Moses, 2018, as well as the movie, Harriet that came out in 2019.

Get Lucky and Download New Books Instantly

Feeling lucky? You don’t need any leprechauns to help you find a great book to read! Check out the Lucky Day Collection on Overdrive. With ebooks and eAudios available with no wait, we’ll sure it will make your day a bit brighter. 

Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions
by Navdeep Singn Dhillon
eBook
Level Up
by Stacey Abrams & Lara Hodgson
eBook
Unstoppable
by Chiquis Rivera
eBook
How To Find Your Way Home
by Katy Regan
eBook
The Art of Insubordination
by Todd B. Kashdan
eBook
Code Over Country
by Matthew Cole
eBook
Bitter
by Akwaeke Emezi
eBook
Healing Through Yoga
by Paul Denniston & David Kessler
eBook
Harlem Shadows
by Claude McKay & Jericho Brown
eBook
Black Girls Must Be Magic
by Jayne Allen
eBook
Heartstopper, Volume 4
by Alice Oseman
eBook
The Fortune Men
by Nadifa Mohamed
eBook

Download and Stream Stories that Hit the Screen

Movie lovers, we know just the book for you to read next! Check out this collection on Hoopla spotlighting books that have inspired film and television adaptions. Here’s a look at a few of our favorites. 

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job.

The Hating Game, by Sally Thorne, Book, eBook, Movie

In this gripping account of the ascent, eventual collapse, and resurrection of the Gucci dynasty, Forden takes us behind the scenes of the trial and exposes the passions, the power, and the vulnerabilities of the greatest fashion family of our times. House of Gucci, by Sara Gay Forden, Book, eBook

Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between two women.

My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante, Book, eBook, DVD

Follow Korean War vet Atticus Freeman, his friend Letitia and his Uncle George on a journey across 1950s Jim Crow America where they face racist terrors and terrifying monsters.

Lovecraft Country, by Matt Ruff, Book, eBook, video